The Seasons of Life

I am writing this post on a UA flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai. My mom was hospitalized during the Chinese New Year, and I rushed back to Shanghai then and stayed for a few days to arrange good medical care for her. But the doctor is now saying she probably only has a few days left. And my mom, being her usual self and always thinking about other people, actually didn’t want me to fly back again. She said it would be wasting money, and I’m too busy with work (I just joined a startup company) and I also need to take care of my own children. Yes, my mom has always been very kind towards others, and she was also very frugal. My parents were not rich. But when I came to the U.S. to study that very first time, somehow she managed to come up with the money to pay for an airfare that was probably over one year’s wages for my parents at that time. But she could be too frugal to a fault. Anyway, I quickly booked my flight last night, and jumped onto the UA flight today to see her for perhaps the last time.

The Chinese New Year heralds a new cycle of seasons in nature and in life, with spring leading the way. But unfortunately for my mom she is reaching the end of her life journey, towards that long sleep of winter. I had been thinking about writing a post about different stages in life. And with the recent Chinese New Year and my mom’s health rapidly failing, it has made me reach deeper to consider the meaning of this. And here I finally find some time to write it down during this long and sleepless flight.

There are four stages, or four seasons if we use the analogy to nature, in life: spring, summer, autumn, and winter, with each season having its own meanings and significance.

Spring: Starting from a very small seed, a new life germinates. It excitedly checks out this new and strange world, and also eagerly tells everyone, “hey, look, I’m here!” But this youngster needs plenty of sunlight and water and lots of nutrients to grow its tender greens, growing taller upwards and also sinking its roots deeper into the earth.

Summer: The little kid of Spring has now come into its exuberant youth, fully foliaged and full of vigor. And in response to the warm breeze, it excitedly puts out those colorful and wild blooms with a frantic and bewildering array of fragrance. And yes, it is time to show off; it is time to flirt with the world, with the bees and butterflies. Let’s cross-pollinate; let’s exchange and create new ideas!

Autumn: The wild youth of Summer has now matured into the gravity of adulthood. And there is the responsibility to turn those beautifully wild flowers into fruition. The foliage may start to turn a different color. But life is not about showing-off anymore. It is now preparing and celebrating a new harvest, and nurturing and sending off its own seeds for offspring.  

Winter: That life vibrance has now run its course, and the life cycle has now come to its seasonal conclusion. It is preparing to go into that long sleep of winter, and some may never awaken again. But she knows that she has worked very hard throughout her life, and has contributed to the world with her greens, flowers, and new seeds, and that new life will start again. 

So here is the cycle of life in its four seasons. It has a beginning and an ending, and it has four seasons. Each season takes its turn, one preceding another, and the old heralding the new. And let’s cherish every moment of it, and let’s not take anything for granted.

And talking about taking things for granted, I know I have taken my mom’s love for granted. Yes, I have been sending her money every month, but I haven’t really done much for her. I have written much on various topics, but I haven’t written anything just for her. So here finally I wrote a short poem “If I Should Fall” about a leaf falling off the tree for her as she is going into that long sleep of winter:

(Written on March 2 on UA 198 from LAX to PVG. My mom passed away on March 5.)

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